Juan Pedro Benali admits NorthEast United's shortcomings in FC Goa draw

The Highlanders have faced three instances where they lost points after scoring first.

Juan Pedro Benali-led NorthEast United FC played out a 3-3 draw against FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa during Matchweek 4 of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25.

The Highlanders were leading until the third minute of stoppage time in the second half, but a strong left-footed shot from Borja Herrera into the bottom corner left Gurmeet Singh stunned and leveled the proceedings. The team was fortunate that the Gaurs couldn’t score a winner in the game’s final moments.

It is the third ISL season match where NorthEast United FC failed to secure all three points after taking the lead. The Highlanders’ manager, Juan Pedro Benali, shared his thoughts during the post-match press conference.

Juan Pedro Benali on being dissatisfied with the result

The Spanish coach opined that NorthEast United could have won the game, but luck did not favor the team. He said, “We are unlucky. We lost two points. I’m not happy with one point. I think Goa is lucky today.”

Talking about the game, he commented, “We were very good. We could have won here for the second time. Unluckily, we changed the striker with another striker to press, to work, and to give some more. And in the first action, he got injured. Then we played a long time with one player less.”

ALSO READ: AIFF Disciplinary Committee announces verdict on Asheer Akhtar’s red card

“Suddenly, we made mistakes. We have a lot of young players, and we made very baby-like mistakes, and they could score. But again, this is FC Goa. They were playing at home against us. But I’m very proud of my players. Proud of the Wolves of Northeast,” he added.

On their inability to stay composed leading to the last-minute equalizer

FC Goa were trailing 3-2 from the 56th minute. However, the Gaurs changed their approach in the final minutes of the game, launching constant attacks. When asked if FC Goa had played the entire game this way, could they have beaten NorthEast, Benali answered, “I think the score would have been much, much different. In the last 20 minutes, they were losing by one goal. They needed to push. They’re at home. We were winning by one.”

“We went back. We panicked a little bit because we didn’t want to throw the game away. We got injuries. Players got tired. We needed changes. It had nothing to do with them playing better or worse in the last 20 minutes. No, we wanted them to have the ball because we knew we could hurt them on the counter-attack. There was a lot of space.”

Juan Pedro Benali also admitted that his substitution didn’t work for the team.

On Guillermo Fernandez’s injury and Robin Yadav’s red card

Spanish striker Guillermo Fernández, who came on the pitch in the 85th minute, got injured in the little time he was involved. When asked about the injury, Juan Pedro Benali replied, “It’s swollen a lot. It was the first action. Unlucky. That’s it.”

The Spanish coach also commented on Robin Yadav’s sending off after receiving his second yellow card, saying the player deserved it. “We don’t need to be hypocrites. He deserves it. Second yellow. Red card. Out. Now we think about the next game. (We have to think about) who is going to play (in his stead),” he concluded.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.